Former NFL Coach Spent 12 Years Building This Massive Minecraft City

Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is showing off a very different kind of long-term project: a sprawling Minecraft city he has been building for more than 12 years.

The first YouTube episode documenting the project was released yesterday and is now trending number one on YouTube’s gaming trending chart.

Tomlin said he first became interested in Minecraft when his children were in middle school and spent weekends playing the game with friends. He began watching them and eventually gravitated toward Creative Mode because of his longstanding interest in architecture and building.

What started as a way to spend time with his children eventually became a long-running personal project. If your kids obsessed with Minecraft, this video hits right at home.

“It was therapeutic for me. Some mindless entertainment,” Tomlin said, explaining that Minecraft gave him a way to step away from everyday pressures.

His city began around a body of water and gradually expanded into neighbourhoods, high-rise apartment buildings, hotels, stadiums and other developments. The first building was a waterfront boutique hotel complete with a spa, conference room, restaurant and underground speakeasy.

The first episode focuses heavily on residential buildings and rooftop penthouses. Tomlin showed off an apartment tower built around an aquarium theme, high-rises overlooking sports venues and several detailed luxury penthouses with balconies, entertainment areas, kitchens, offices and bedrooms.

The former NFL coach (he coached the Steelers for 19 seasons through 2025) turned TV analyst said he became increasingly interested in rooftop properties as the city grew, particularly because of the views they offered across the expanding Minecraft landscape. One of his favourite penthouses occupies an entire floor and includes three bedrooms, a media room, recreation area and outdoor entertainment space.

His son Dino is helping produce the videos and was also the person who convinced Tomlin to finally share the city publicly.

Tomlin says future episodes will explore other parts of the enormous virtual city, including landmarks and neighbourhoods he has built over more than a decade. Check out his nearly 20-minute episode below, which he breaks down like a play in the NFL. Also, zero ads to boot, which is a bonus. The comments in the video are pure gold, as expected (“The modern dad’s Model Train Track”, LOL):